Hazzaa Ali AlMansoori

AlMansoori was born on 13 December 1983 in Al-Wathba and moved with his family to Al-Dhafra in western Abu Dhabi. His passion for astronomy led to him studying aviation and majoring as a military pilot at the Khalifa bin Zayed Air College. After graduation, he joined the armed forces and later became one of the most outstanding military pilots. His excellence made him one of the top candidates to become a Functional Check Flight (FCF) Pilot F-16B60. He travelled to Arizona, USA, to train on the aircraft for three years, and then returned to the UAE to complete his training. Four years after his return, Hazzaa became the youngest military pilot on the F-16, a major achievement in his record. He also qualified to be a pilot for flight testing and aircraft assessment and was one of the first Arab and Emirati pilots to take part in the Dubai Air Show’s presenting a show at the UAE National Day in 2017, and the 50^th anniversary of UAE Air Force in 2018.

AlMansoori further successfully completed his first year of training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 2021 and is currently ready to work as an operator onboard the International Space Station.

He trained in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), passed evaluations which included using the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), maintenance of the International Space Station, the Incapacitated Crew Rescue (ICR), and completed theoretical and practical training sessions on the T-38 jet.

He was granted the NASA astronaut’s pin after completing around 20 months of general training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.